Through Ephesians -12- Be Strong in the Lord

Reading: Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

I. Be Strong in the Lord (v.10)

   A.    There is a Need for strength.

       1.    Finally... Paul has been insisting that the Ephesians live as children of the light and being filled with the Spirit to speak and sing to each other, praising God and giving thanks and submitting to each other.

       2.    There is one more thing, one summary, over-arching thing to keep in mind: “Be strong!”

           a.    It is not easy to live this life of love there are plenty of hindrances.

           b.    We tend toward complacency, we let our guard down, our spiritual muscle has a tendency to weaken over time.

       3.    We need to be alert because (as Paul will tell us in a moment), we are at war with a crafty enemy.

   B.    We need His strength

       1.    Jesus loves me...I am weak but he is strong!

       2.    Be strong in the Lord .

           a.    In 2Tim. 2:1 Paul encourages Timothy this way: You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

           b.    We run to Jesus for His strength — no spiritual bootstraps to pull up on!

           c.    To put it another way: Be empowered with Jesus, by Jesus. Or maybe Be empowered as you are in Jesus.

       3.    In his mighty power

           a.    We have 3 words for strength here: Be strong then in the power then of his might

           b.    Paul wants to tell us how much strength we need — we need a lot!

   C.    We have His Power

       1.    Eph.1:19 — same word here!

       2.    We are to find strength in something we have, not something we need to strive for.

           a.    It is strength within, but it is God’s strength within

       3.    That power raised Jesus from the dead and raised us from our spiritual death,

           a.    it seated Jesus at the right hand of God and seated us with him,

           b.    it placed Jesus far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given” and through “the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms

       4.    That’s the kind of power that is at work within us!

II.    Take a Stand (v.11)

   A.    Put on God’s Armor

       1.    The Armor is God’s.

           a.    It comes from God. God issues it.

           b.    The armor in one sense is like God — that is as Paul says to be clothed with Jesus, putting on Christ is like putting on armor.

       2.    That is the full armor — don’t grab your helmet and forget your shield!

           a.    We need to be prepared for any kind of attack because a smart enemy will always exploit our greatest weaknesses.

               (1)  If you forget your shoes, you can bet he’ll try to engage you on slippery ground.

               (2)  Forget your shield and he’ll be sure to shoot those fiery arrows.

   B.    Stand don’t Fall, or Run

       1.    Don’t Fall

           a.    In hand to hand battle the worst thing to do is fall.

           b.    In spiritual battle it is no different. Falling spiritually (sinning) almost always results in losing a major battle.

               (1)  In fact, sometimes the only goal of the battle is to make you fall.

               (2)  Sometimes the fall is the event that gains victory in another area — ministry defeat, marriage break, someone hurt.

       2.    Don’t Run

           a.    The most common response to danger is cowardice. We have no reason for it since we have resurrection power coursing through our veins. We cannot die!

           b.    Not to say we shouldn’t flee sin — we must. But there are times when running away from sin puts us square in the face of the evil that entices us:

               (1)  What do you mean you won’t... Are you some kind of a holier-than-thou sort? Come on be one of the guys/gals.

               (2)  If you don’t..., you can never... again.

               (3)  What are you a sissy?

               (4)  Can’t you handle it?

           c.    This is the devil’s way of pushing us back to the edge. Our job? Don’t let him!

   C.    The Devil is a Trickster

       1.    Against the devil’s schemes. The word is "μεθοδιςας" and it means tricks, traps, ambushes, clever ploys, tactics, strategies.

       2.    His two greatest ploys, according to C.S. Lewis is to make us believe he is everywhere or make us believe he isn’t real.

       3.    His greatest scheme is the simple lie. We are all to ready to believe that:

           a.    It is expected that children have sex before marriage and what’s more unrealistic to teach them to abstain.

III.   We have an Enemy (v.12)

   A.    Our Enemy is not Human

       1.    This is the plain and simple message of v.12: we don’t wrestle with a human opponent.

       2.    This means that even when we feel attacked by humans, the attack may have an entirely different origin altogether.

       3.    Or, our feeling of being attacked is due to our enemy’s exploitation of something well meant.

   B.    Our Enemy is Spiritual

       1.    “Against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”

           a.    Paul didn’t say our enemy is the idea that there are evil spiritual creatures who operate on a spiritual plane.

           b.    Our enemy is a spiritual force of evil

       2.    We get a list of enemies: rulers, authorities, world-powers, spiritual beings of evil.

           a.    This may be a list of different types, or simply a list of adjectives for evil spirits.

       3.    Are demons real?

           a.    There has been a attempt to substitute the ideas of structural evil, systemic evil for the idea of evil spirits.

           b.    This idea is simply not supportable Biblically, though some still hold it.

   C.    We are to Fight our enemy.

       1.    We are not to fight people because our struggle is against someone else.

       2.    That means we have a fight on our hands.

       3.    How do we do that? Look at v.11. Next week the armor itself.

       4.    Be strong! There’s a battle going on and you’re in it. But if God is in you, you cannot be defeated as you take your stand.

The Bottom Line:

.